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| TKO 20 Preview |
| MMA News Written by Marc "The French Canadian" Godin | |
| Sunday, 27 March 2005 | |
 In all, this 9 fights card is really unpredictable, with some interesting match-ups brought to life. The moving of this show to the Metropolis should bring back the excitement and the ambiance in the crowd. There will be as many fans this time around as there were the last few installments of TKO that have taken place at the Pierre Charbonneau Center, but we will have a full house for this 2300 seat venue and it should make it really interesting for everyone, from the fans and even to the fighters themselves. Picking winners for this show was not the easiest of things, but here are the French Canadians previews and predictions for TKO 20 "Champion vs. Champion" : Superlightweight Championship Bout For the final bout of this show, fans will finally have the chance to witness the long awaited superlightweight unification bout between Mark Hominick and Stephane Vigneault. “The Machine” became a crowd favorite in Montreal by giving the attendance what they like best, non-stop action and heart. He dominated this division for so long and a new heir to the throne wants to take his spotlight away. How will people cheer for this fight against the Madelinot Simba? Will the fans root, for the champion, or for the local fighter who is the interim champion, or will they be neutral for this affair? There are lots of questions to be answered and this matchup is really intriguing. I don’t know why, but I see Simba wanting to trade on the feet with the Machine to prove everyone that he is the real deal. Would that be a good strategy? People are divided on this issue, but it would be wise for him to bring it down on the ground and work for a submission as quickly as possible. As for Hominick, he’s probably prepared for both scenarios and especially the one on the ground. He has won against submission artist before, and surely is confident of winning again in this war to be. My prediction : I see Hominick winning by decision with the first half of the bout being on the feet to become the undisputed Superlightweight champion once again. This will be Simba’s mistake and he will receive his share of damage before the fight goes to the ground. By this time, it will be too late, and Hominick will defend with great poise while waiting patiently for the fight to get back up. I’m sticking with this scenario but if the fight goes quickly to the ground, it could be a whole different ending. Welterweight Superfight Challenge The Freak is coming down to welterweight on short notice. He’s always been a force to be reckoned with and he will surely want to make everyone forget his performance against Ivan Salaverry at UFC 50. Let’s not forget that that fight was a 185lbs affair while The Freak is naturally lighter, and should be a loose cannon as a welterweight. He always gave the Montreal crowd fights to remember and will want to continue doing so. The fighter out of the Miletich camp accepted this fight on a week’s notice, but he probably thinks that he can beat Jonathan Goulet, a fighter he KO’d back in 2002 at UCC 8. “The Road Warrior” is on a six fight winning streak and he’s on the verge of the big show, the UFC. He opened many eyes in his last fight against John Alessio, a fight he dominated from start to finish. In the last few weeks, Goulet prepared for fighters such as Chatt Lavender and James Gabert, but finds himself in a much more difficult fight, but a better one for everyone involved, especially the fans. This will also be a chance of redemption for him against the Freak, a proven UFC fighter. Will the Warrior battle the Freak on the feet, or will the fight go quickly to the ground. I favor the second option and I don’t see this fight going the distance. My prediction : Jonathan Goulet will get closer to his UFC dream by submitting (possibly a rear naked choke) Fryklund by the end of the 1st Rd. But, with the Freak, we’ll get action, one way or the other. Heavyweight Championship Bout Following this heavyweight bout, don’t expect Jacob Conliffe to come down the lightheavyweight division just yet. His debut against Todd Gouwenberg was really impressive and this bout should be quick as well for the Tompkins fighter. Iccho could always land some good shots, but stamina could be the difference here. In his last match against Yan Pellerin, Iccho was gassed after the first round. For his part, Conliffe will be ready for all three rounds and remain the champion. My prediction : Jacob Conliffe by submission in the 1st Rd. Lightweight Championship Bout Since his lost to Kultar Gill Donald Ouimet dropped weight became a lightweight fighter, and made a statement to everyone by becoming the man to beat in the division. TKO tried hard to have a rematch against Kultar Gill, or to have a match against Justin Bruckmann but it never materialized. Thoughts of matching him against Sam Stout came to mind, but since he was already on the card, James Martinez came in the picture in the last few weeks. Martinez sports a record of 3-1, but all his wins were ended by TKO’s or submissions and his lone loss was a decision. The quality of past opponents for both fighters could be a huge factor in this bout, so Ouimet’s experience should be noticeable in the ring. My prediction : Donald Ouimet by TKO R2 Superlightweight #1 Contendership Bout This match should be a ground war with both fighters being submission artists. Diaz is on a four fight winning streak since his lost to reigning champion Mark Hominick, back at TKO13 and has since submitted all his opponents. With another win, he’ll get another title shot at the superlightweight championship as this bout is for the #1 contendership. In his way is Philippe Lagacé, Patrick Côté’s jiu jitsu coach. Once again, experience will be a major asset in the outcome of this battle. Diaz experienced some loses in the ring with great fighters such as Hermes Franca, Mark Hominick and Max Marin. On the other hand, Lagacé has had some battles with Stephane Vigneault, Thierry Quenneville and Antonio Carvalho, all resulting in loses as well. This bout is a defining one for both as they could be in line for a title shot with a win. My prediction : Ryan Diaz by submission in R3 followed by a chance to have a rematch against Hominick Lightweight Fight This match as all the ingredients to be a barn burner. Everything leads to a stand up war as Tyler is a feared man on the feet. It will be a good test for Sam Stout and he’ll finally have someone to stand with him. Will it stay on the feet long? I’m not completely sure about that. Experience in MMA could well be the difference here cause Stout found himself on the ground quite often and was able to give us memorable battles to win 2 MMA Ring Report fighter of the Night awards. This time around, he could be the one inflicting damage on the ground. Will he win a third award ? Will Jackson surprise everyone by coming out victorious from this affair? He could very well be as this Gibson’s pupil comes in with great regards by his pears. My prediction: Sam Stout wins this stand up war by TKO R3 and hopefully a title shot against Donald Ouimet. Lightweight Fight Both fighters come in with records of 6 wins and 2 losses and it makes this bout one of the most interesting of the night. “The Snake” Blake Fredrickson lost twice by decision to champion Donald Ouimet and there is no shame in that, with “The Chirurgien’s” loses coming at the hands of Ryan Diaz and Yves Jabouin. Frederickson and Quenneville are very explosive fighters on their feet and on the ground. Fighting out of Gibson Pankration, Blake is a wizard on the ground and Quenneville is more of a ground and pound fighter even thought he won most of his fights by submission. This fight will surely go to the ground very quickly with Quenneville having the upperhand early in the bout. Unfortunately, he will not be able to end it and by the middle of the match, Fredrickson will turn things around and might be getting close to ending it by a triangle choke. My prediction : Blake Fredrickson by decision after a hard fought battle on the ground and he will be back in contention for an eventual title shot. Welterweight Fight This fight will start the main card with a bang as both fighters like it in the stand up position. Both fighters will come out for the KO right away. It will not go the distance as it could end very quickly. Hands, kicks and knees will come from all angles in this one. Tregear will finally have an opponent to stand up with, unlike his last fight against Kyle Sandford. As for Grandmont, he wants to continue on his impress following his KO victory debut at TKO 19. Fans better be in there seats and nowhere else cause there will be energy in the air as the fans will probably root for the local fighter. My prediction : Martin Grandmont by TKO R2. Preliminary Superlightweight Fight Sonny Leong needs a win. He sports a record of 1-6-1, with the draw coming against Dave Parizeau himself at TKO 18. It could well go all the way again, but I see Leong coming out more aggressively this time around. Hopefully, his stamina will be there cause last time around, he seemed to be gassing out. Parizeau, on the other hand, is a fighter that will try very hard for the submission once again. It could go either side, but Leong will have another strong game plan for this rematch. My prediction: Sonny Leong by TKO R2. The Weigh in weights from the TKO 20 Weigh ins are below Martin Grandmont 169.0 Stephane Vigneault 145 Anthony Fryklund 169.5 James Martinez 154.4 Iccho Larenas 226.6 Tyler Jackson 154.2 Blake Fredrickson 154.9 Ryan Diaz 144.8 Sonny Leong 144.2 Questions or Comments? Email them to All photo’s and text are copyrighted. Any unauthorized use of any Photo’s or text from MMA RIng Report is strictly prohibited. All Rights reserved. |
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